Preparing Images for Print

noahpurdy · 04-08-2010, 06:33 PM

I did my first paid shoot! YAY.

Anyways I'm looking to prepare the final images for print. I've heard good things about White House Custom Color(Pro Photo Lab: Photo Prints, Press Printed, Press Books | WHCC) so I plan on using them for prints.

Anyways, what is the procedure for preparing shots for print. All of the images were shot in RAW (PEF) and edited in Apple Aperture. If I needed to take them into Photoshop I did so as 16bit Tiffs.

Should the images be cropped / resized to the exact sizes the prints are going to be? For prints should there be additional sharpening applied? I am aware the colorspace used by WHCC and that will be properly embedded but is there anything else I'm overlooking?

Example workflows?

Thanks in advanced,

Noah.

Wheatfield · 04-08-2010, 07:45 PM

Gads.
Anyway, at the studio (we have our own digital photolab), we crop and size the files to the print size we are making. We send large jpegs to the printer as a rule.
Although not the best, it is something that all labs understand, make sure your files are sRGB.
You should sharpen a lot less for print than you would for viewing on a computer screen, but really, it's something you have to figure out between you and your lab, so it's probably time to send off a few test files to them.

paugie · 04-08-2010, 07:56 PM

UP!
am curious, too.

mysticcowboy · 04-09-2010, 09:27 PM

Congratulations on your first paying job.

Absolutely, crop your images before they go out of your computer. Never show the client anything that will look different from the final print. That brings no end of wrong expectations.

Don't expect your first run of prints to match color and (especially) exposure perfectly. If you haven't used a print service before, send a few images to them for test purposes. Use those to edit your photos against. Profiles are well and good. Use them. Never trust them without verification and good monitor calibration against the printed images.

michael mckee
My Port Townsend – A City in Photographs – 365

George Lama · 04-09-2010, 10:08 PM

Primarily I use WHCC but have used MPIX Pro for some product. - do not send your paying job product to any print lab without first doing calibration prints for each. That's just asking for hit-or-miss results.

WHCC , MPIX Pro, and most large labs give you test prints, 8x10 images for you to "calibrate" with. Basically you're comparing what you see on your monitor versus the print on paper.

I agree with others talking about resizing files on the computer before sending them to print. Read the documentation provided by the labs as to how to prepare the files for print. They're very specific (sRGB, JPEG Quality 10, etc.)

WHCC and Mpix Pro use ROES (like most large labs do) and although this software allows you to crop and rotate, you really want to save any mods for your image processing software. Familiarize yourself with how ROES works.

I'd recommend registering with WHCC, wait to get approved, download ROES, upload your test prints, wait for them to come back and compare, then proceed with ordering once you're certain of your output.

TOUGEFC · 04-09-2010, 10:45 PM

You may want to ask your lab what colour space they require your jpegs to be as well as PPI,

The pro lab i use requests jpegs to be the correct size to the size of the print as well as 300PPI and adobeRGB colour space.

artobest · 04-10-2010, 08:11 AM

Originally posted by TOUGEFC

You may want to ask your lab what colour space they require your jpegs to be as well as PPI,

The pro lab i use requests jpegs to be the correct size to the size of the print as well as 300PPI and adobeRGB colour space.

Good point. Don't use sRGB unless your lab specifically requests it. And if they do insist on sRGB, then start looking around for a new printer for your next job. If your photos are full of rich, saturated colour, you need to work with a bigger colour space like Adobe RGB.

Wheatfield · 04-11-2010, 06:19 AM

Originally posted by artobest

Good point. Don't use sRGB unless your lab specifically requests it. And if they do insist on sRGB, then start looking around for a new printer for your next job. If your photos are full of rich, saturated colour, you need to work with a bigger colour space like Adobe RGB.

Possibly not quite true. When I was working in photo labs, I was told by a Noritsu tech that the sRGB colour space surrounded the gamut of colour photographic paper fairly nicely, and Noritsu labs on their own don't recognize any colourspace but sRGB.
We never had problems getting well saturated prints from any file as long as they were in the correct colour space.

artobest · 04-11-2010, 01:47 PM

Originally posted by Wheatfield

Possibly not quite true. When I was working in photo labs, I was told by a Noritsu tech that the sRGB colour space surrounded the gamut of colour photographic paper fairly nicely, and Noritsu labs on their own don't recognize any colourspace but sRGB.
We never had problems getting well saturated prints from any file as long as they were in the correct colour space.

In that case I would suggest using an inkjet printer for critical images. With a gamut much closer to, and in places exceeding, Adobe RGB on good papers, at least you won't be tossing away colours that are within the printer's capabilities, as you would if you used sRGB.

But then, I would say that.

mysticcowboy · 04-12-2010, 08:43 PM

Originally posted by artobest

In that case I would suggest using an inkjet printer for critical images. With a gamut much closer to, and in places exceeding, Adobe RGB on good papers, at least you won't be tossing away colours that are within the printer's capabilities, as you would if you used sRGB.

But then, I would say that.

What you really need to do is download the color profile that your print service provides for the paper you want and use that.

Fire up your Adobe RGB image and check for out of gamut colors by converting a copy of the image to the printer's color profile. I'd do that even printing with a top of the line inkjet. There will almost always be some out of gamut parts of your image. Prints just don't hold the entire color range of an Adobe RGB file, though the better ones with top of the line papers come close.

michael mckee
My Port Townsend – A City in Photographs – 365

04-08-2010, 06:33 PM	#1
noahpurdy Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 479	Preparing Images for Print I did my first paid shoot! YAY. Anyways I'm looking to prepare the final images for print. I've heard good things about White House Custom Color(Pro Photo Lab: Photo Prints, Press Printed, Press Books \| WHCC) so I plan on using them for prints. Anyways, what is the procedure for preparing shots for print. All of the images were shot in RAW (PEF) and edited in Apple Aperture. If I needed to take them into Photoshop I did so as 16bit Tiffs. Should the images be cropped / resized to the exact sizes the prints are going to be? For prints should there be additional sharpening applied? I am aware the colorspace used by WHCC and that will be properly embedded but is there anything else I'm overlooking? Example workflows? Thanks in advanced, Noah.

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04-08-2010, 07:45 PM	#2
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,981	Gads. Anyway, at the studio (we have our own digital photolab), we crop and size the files to the print size we are making. We send large jpegs to the printer as a rule. Although not the best, it is something that all labs understand, make sure your files are sRGB. You should sharpen a lot less for print than you would for viewing on a computer screen, but really, it's something you have to figure out between you and your lab, so it's probably time to send off a few test files to them.

04-08-2010, 07:56 PM	#3
paugie Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Quezon City, Philippines Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 168	UP! am curious, too.

04-09-2010, 09:27 PM	#4
mysticcowboy Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: port townsend, wa Photos: Albums Posts: 968	Congratulations on your first paying job. Absolutely, crop your images before they go out of your computer. Never show the client anything that will look different from the final print. That brings no end of wrong expectations. Don't expect your first run of prints to match color and (especially) exposure perfectly. If you haven't used a print service before, send a few images to them for test purposes. Use those to edit your photos against. Profiles are well and good. Use them. Never trust them without verification and good monitor calibration against the printed images. michael mckee My Port Townsend – A City in Photographs – 365

04-09-2010, 10:08 PM	#5
George Lama Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Buffalo/Rochester, NY Photos: Albums Posts: 1,133	Primarily I use WHCC but have used MPIX Pro for some product. - do not send your paying job product to any print lab without first doing calibration prints for each. That's just asking for hit-or-miss results. WHCC , MPIX Pro, and most large labs give you test prints, 8x10 images for you to "calibrate" with. Basically you're comparing what you see on your monitor versus the print on paper. I agree with others talking about resizing files on the computer before sending them to print. Read the documentation provided by the labs as to how to prepare the files for print. They're very specific (sRGB, JPEG Quality 10, etc.) WHCC and Mpix Pro use ROES (like most large labs do) and although this software allows you to crop and rotate, you really want to save any mods for your image processing software. Familiarize yourself with how ROES works. I'd recommend registering with WHCC, wait to get approved, download ROES, upload your test prints, wait for them to come back and compare, then proceed with ordering once you're certain of your output.

04-09-2010, 10:45 PM	#6
TOUGEFC Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brisbane Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,561	You may want to ask your lab what colour space they require your jpegs to be as well as PPI, The pro lab i use requests jpegs to be the correct size to the size of the print as well as 300PPI and adobeRGB colour space.

04-10-2010, 08:11 AM	#7
artobest Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Swansea, Wales Posts: 455	Originally posted by TOUGEFC You may want to ask your lab what colour space they require your jpegs to be as well as PPI, The pro lab i use requests jpegs to be the correct size to the size of the print as well as 300PPI and adobeRGB colour space. Good point. Don't use sRGB unless your lab specifically requests it. And if they do insist on sRGB, then start looking around for a new printer for your next job. If your photos are full of rich, saturated colour, you need to work with a bigger colour space like Adobe RGB.

04-11-2010, 06:19 AM	#8
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,981	Originally posted by artobest Good point. Don't use sRGB unless your lab specifically requests it. And if they do insist on sRGB, then start looking around for a new printer for your next job. If your photos are full of rich, saturated colour, you need to work with a bigger colour space like Adobe RGB. Possibly not quite true. When I was working in photo labs, I was told by a Noritsu tech that the sRGB colour space surrounded the gamut of colour photographic paper fairly nicely, and Noritsu labs on their own don't recognize any colourspace but sRGB. We never had problems getting well saturated prints from any file as long as they were in the correct colour space.

04-11-2010, 01:47 PM	#9
artobest Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Swansea, Wales Posts: 455	Originally posted by Wheatfield Possibly not quite true. When I was working in photo labs, I was told by a Noritsu tech that the sRGB colour space surrounded the gamut of colour photographic paper fairly nicely, and Noritsu labs on their own don't recognize any colourspace but sRGB. We never had problems getting well saturated prints from any file as long as they were in the correct colour space. In that case I would suggest using an inkjet printer for critical images. With a gamut much closer to, and in places exceeding, Adobe RGB on good papers, at least you won't be tossing away colours that are within the printer's capabilities, as you would if you used sRGB. But then, I would say that.

04-12-2010, 08:43 PM	#10
mysticcowboy Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: port townsend, wa Photos: Albums Posts: 968	Originally posted by artobest In that case I would suggest using an inkjet printer for critical images. With a gamut much closer to, and in places exceeding, Adobe RGB on good papers, at least you won't be tossing away colours that are within the printer's capabilities, as you would if you used sRGB. But then, I would say that. What you really need to do is download the color profile that your print service provides for the paper you want and use that. Fire up your Adobe RGB image and check for out of gamut colors by converting a copy of the image to the printer's color profile. I'd do that even printing with a top of the line inkjet. There will almost always be some out of gamut parts of your image. Prints just don't hold the entire color range of an Adobe RGB file, though the better ones with top of the line papers come close. michael mckee My Port Townsend – A City in Photographs – 365